[Princess and I] I loved you on rainy days and sunny days

[aliensamba]

Title: I loved you on rainy days and sunny days
Day/Theme: January 11. I loved you on rainy days and sunny days
Series: Princess and I
Character/Pairing: Jao and Areeyah
Rating: G

Notes: I wrote this for the January 11th prompt at the 31-days community in LJ but never got around to posting it.  Now that this series is coming to an end (tonight, February 1), I figured I should probably post this because I owe it to Jao.  Yes, I like Jao. I want him to be happy.  I don't think he'll be happy in the show anymore because I have a feeling that he'll die tonight.  Anyway, how can the show redeem him when it is ending tonight?  Oh, I'm ranting. It happens.  On with the story. Kudos to Enrique Gil for gracing me with his presence every weekday for the past 10 months.


~~~~%~~~~


 

 

It's too much. Seeing him and her dancing with their smiles to each other is too much for Jao to bear. He might say that he just wants them to go away, to leave him be, but the truth is he wants them to care.

 

Jao leaves the celebration while Gino and Areeyah dance around each other. It's night time and he just wants to find a dark corner where he can grieve in peace. He looks at the stars and remembers the time when he and Areeyah met.

 

Beautiful, that's how he would describe her. Her words were a welcome respite from the court protocols. She gave him her honest opinion on everything and she was kind to him without question. It was in her nature to be kind and he found himself responding.

He had not counted on meeting her again after that. Thank the fates that she was there to teach him how to adapt when he went on a trip to her country on the King's request. In return, he taught her how to speak Yangdonese, knowing that she wanted to get a degree in languages and travel the world.

Brave and humble, that's who she is too. After finding out that she was the long-lost daughter of the king, she accepted it all and still retained her personality. She was still kind and thoughtful. She took up her royal lessons under his mother without complaint even though he knows that his mother has a tendency to be a perfectionist and demanding.

Areeyah, sana hayaan mo akong mahalin ka. He told her once during their lessons on speaking Yangdonese.

He loves her even though he knows not what she feels for him. He knows she has feelings for Gino so he doesn't ask her for anything.

He should have been happy when his mother pushed for him to marry Areeyah to comply with the requirement from the Royal Court that Areeyah should be married at her 18th birthday, but he's not. Areeyah did not want to marry at the moment and when she wept because of Gino's harsh words the night of his and Areeyah's betrothal, he promised her that he'll do everything in his power that she won't shed another sad tear ever.

 

Gino. His friend. His brother. His rival.

He doesn't know what to think of Gino. Gino was the one who brought Yin to the engagement celebration and consequently ruined his life. If only Yin wasn't there to accuse his mother of treason, then he would be...

No, he must not dwell on the past. It's over now.

Gino has proposed to Areeyah and she has accepted.

He was trying to move on with his life but they appeared in Masantol, as if fate was teasing him. Gino and Areeyah going around the little village, helping the community and organizing events.

Flaunting their relationship to his face.

 

Jao looks at Areeyah. She's standing in the moonlight, looking at him as though trying to will him to disappear.

 

Her aloofness bites at his feelings. He can't seem to reach her.

 

He wonders if she remembers what they shared a long time ago. Before coming to this place, before being imprisoned and losing his last remaining parent. Before his life went down the drain.



~~~~%~~~~

Author's Notes:   sana hayaan mo akong mahalin ka - "Hopefully, you will let me love you." (rough translation).